TOKYO, Jun 30 (News On Japan) –
A rising wave of fraudulent restaurant bookings is elevating alarm amongst small eateries throughout Japan, with a number of circumstances now reported past Tokyo. The rip-off entails a person falsely claiming to be a college worker and reserving tables below the identify “Koga,” earlier than canceling on the final minute and demanding that eating places pay for costly wine.
The rip-off targets so-called “hidden” or unique eating places, identified for his or her intimate settings. In Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, one such institution was requested on the day of the reservation to buy 4 bottles of wine, every priced at 240,000 yen, from an alleged acquaintance of the supposed buyer. Chef Yusuke Nomura recalled, “It was chilling. Even when we had paid, there would’ve been no supply, no visitors. It could have been a double loss.”
Additional investigation revealed one other restaurant that reported a complete lack of 960,000 yen after ordering the wine, which by no means arrived. The scheme threatens to break the trust-based reservation system utilized by small eating places, with one Tokyo restaurateur saying, “We now must method reservations with suspicion.”
The issue seems to be spreading past Tokyo. In Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, a person claiming to be “Koga from XX Excessive College” referred to as Trattoria Nonno requesting a dinner reserving for 15 folks. When the restaurant proprietor, Hisaya Kanbayashi, knowledgeable him that they don’t use LINE for communication, contact was reduce off, and the group by no means confirmed. The last-minute preparation, together with hiring an additional part-time employee, resulted in an estimated 130,000 yen loss. “It’s actually a horrible crime,” Kanbayashi mentioned.
The scammer seems to be utilizing a number of aliases and professions. In Toyama Metropolis, a person figuring out himself as an organization worker named “Shirakawa” phoned a restaurant to order for an govt get together. On the day of the reserving, he requested 4 bottles of high-end wine. However the restaurant, having beforehand seen information stories on related scams, turned suspicious and contacted the police.
The cell quantity utilized by “Shirakawa” was later traced and located to be linked to different sorts of telephone fraud, together with impersonations of law enforcement officials. This raised suspicions that the identical quantity was being utilized by organized rip-off networks.
Victims described the scammer as a younger man with an unnatural use of well mannered language—showing to strive laborious to be respectful however sounding awkward and inexperienced. Chef Nomura described him as “a bit suspicious and nervous,” noting frequent typos in LINE messages that didn’t align with somebody claiming to be a trainer.
Many additionally famous that he insisted on utilizing LINE for all communication. A number of eating places reported poor audio high quality throughout LINE calls, with uneven alerts and distant voices.
In accordance with crime journalist Fumiaki Tada, these patterns might counsel that the scammer is a part of a fraud group working abroad by illicit “darkish jobs.” He added that utilizing LINE could also be a tactic to keep away from arrest: “When communication is completed by way of LINE, the caller’s id and placement are troublesome to hint.”
Supply: FNN
